College Fjord
May 17, 2009, 5-8 PM

College Fjord is located in the northern sector of Prince William Sound in Alaska. The fjord contains five tidewater glaciers (glaciers that terminate in water), five large valley glaciers, and dozens of smaller glaciers, most named after renowned East Coast colleges.

College Fjord was discovered in 1899 during the Harriman Expedition, at which time the glaciers were named. The expedition included a Harvard and an Amherst professor, and they named many of the glaciers after elite colleges. According to Bruce Molina, author of Alaska's Glaciers, "they took great delight in ignoring Princeton."

The Harvard Glacier, a large tidewater glacier, has a 2 km (1.5 mile) wide face where it calves into the College Fjord. The Harvard Glacier is the second largest glacier in the Prince William Sound, after the Columbia Glacier. Harvard Glacier has been advancing at about 20 meters per year (66 feet per year) since 1931.

Meanwhile, Yale Glacier has been retreating at about 50 meters per year (164 feet per year) since 1931. Yale and Harvard are side-by-side, exposed to the same climate. Not only that, both start in the same snowfield, about 20 miles back. So, although glaciers do respond to climate, there must also be something else driving the behavior of these glaciers.

Tonight was the "gala dinner" complete with baked Alaska.